Editorial: Raising awareness around trends in noncommunicable diseases and their risk factors to promote global prevention and control

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), encompassing cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, and chronic respiratory illnesses, have emerged as a significant global health challenge, exerting immense pressure on healthcare systems and economies worldwide. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) globally account for 41 million deaths annually, resulting in 74% of global mortality (1). The NCD's contributions to the Disability-adjusted life years (DALY) are the highest globally and is the only disease group for which DALYs increased from 1.47 billion in 2010 to 1.73 billion years in 2021 (2). The multifaceted etiology of NCDs underscores the imperative for comprehensive approaches addressing underlying risk factors and quantifying their impact of exposure to key risk factors is necessary to inform public health policy and practice and help prioritize the use of scarce resources to reduce the existing disparities (3). According to WHO, NCDs arise from a combination of behavioral, metabolic, and environmental risk factors. Modifiable behaviors such as tobacco use, physical inactivity, unhealthy diets, and harmful alcohol consumption significantly elevate NCD risks (1). Metabolic risk factors, including high blood pressure, obesity, elevated blood glucose, and high blood lipids, drive NCD development. Environmental factors like air pollution further exacerbate NCD risks, causing 6.7 million deaths globally, with 5.7 million linked to conditions such as stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer (1). While most of the risk factors are considered modifiable, efforts to minimize them are abysmally low worldwide. One crucial bottleneck to this sluggish response is a lack of awareness or insufficient knowledge about NCDs and their risk factors among people and policymakers.